The present invention relates to carrying pets in motor vehicles, and particularly to a lightweight device for restricting movement of a pet within a motor vehicle, yet providing ample room, light, and ventilation for the animal, without obstructing the field of visibility of the vehicle's operator.
Animals, particularly dogs, moving about freely in motor vehicles can deposit a great deal of dirt and loose hair and the like throughout the motor vehicle, on seat covers and rugs. Saliva and mucus are likely to be deposited on windows and other surfaces within the car. In particular, hunting dogs returning from a day afield are likely to have dust, seeds, burrs, and mud in their coats or on their feet, and family pets returning from a hike or a day at the beach may be nearly as dirty.
Pet carriers in various forms have long been available for use in connection with automobile transport of animals, but all of those known to the present inventor have had various difficulties or disadvantages which the present invention attempts to overcome. Some previous efforts to produce a suitable pet carrier for use in or on an automobile have dealt with the conversion of a luggage compartment of an automobile, as in Wuest U.S. Pat. No. 2,194,993 and Blend, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,107,649.
Other previous pet-carrying devices for use in automobiles would be inadequate for confining large dogs, for example, the one shown in Poczatek U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,781.
Olson U.S. Pat. No. 2,897,781 provides a carrier for use attached to the outside of a motor vehicle. Such a carrier is unnecessarily heavy and complex and would apparently be unnecessarily costly, although it does provide a pair of transparent window panes in order not to obstruct rearward visibility for the operator of vehicle on which the carrier is mounted. However, a pet carried in such a carrier would be likely to obstruct the operator's view, regardless of the presence of the windows in the carrying device.
May U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,728 discloses a large, rigidly constructed carrier for use within the rear passenger compartment of a motor vehicle such as a four door sedan. The May device provides for rearward visibility by including front and rear window panes. While the device serves the purpose of providing a carrying place for animals within vehicles other than station wagon-type automobiles, the device is unnecessarily heavy and awkward for use in station wagons, and occupies a great deal of space when it is not in use.
Pets, if well-trained, do not require strongly constructed devices merely to keep them within certain areas of the interior of a motor vehicle. While they need to be kept from climbing or jumping on the seats and in other undesired places within the motor vehicle, this can be accomplished without massive or rigidly constructed carriers such as those of the prior art.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an easily installed and inexpensive device for restraining animals, particularly large dogs, within a desired area of the interior of a motor vehicle.
It is another important object of the present invention to provide a device for use while carrying pets, including large dogs, in a motor vehicle, in which ample space is provided for the pets without interfering with the ability of the motor vehicle operator to see through the vehicle's rear or side windows. It is desirable, however, to provide a device which does not require the use of glass panes or other rigid materials which may be undesirably heavy or expensive or which would prevent the pet-carrying device from being folded into a compact package for storagee.
It is a principal feature of the pet carrying device of the present invention that it includes upright walls and a horizontal top portion of fabric of sufficient strength to restrain a pet yet transparent enough not to obstruct the field of vision of the operator of a vehicle in which the pet carrier is being used, and permeable enough to provide ample ventilation for a pet contained with the pet carrier.
Optimally, a pet carrying device for use in an automobile should be easy to clean and capable of being disassembled and packed easily in a minimum amount of space when not in use.
It is another principal feature of the pet carrier of the present invention that it includes a supporting frame which is light in weight, in combination with a cover of flexible material which can be cleaned easily, and which can be removed and folded and stored in a small amount of space. The frame can also be disassembled and stored in a relatively small amount of space.
It is an important advantage of the present invention that it is less expensive than the carriers of rigid construction used for carrying and protecting pets during commercial transportation.
A pet carrier according to the present invention includes a supportive frame of light, rigid members interconnected with one another to provide support for a flexible fabric cover which is stretched over the frame, defining an area within which a pet can be penned. A horizontal bottom member and lower portions of three vertical walls of the cover are of waterproof material, in order to protect the interior of the motor vehicle in which the carrier is used.
The upper portions of the vertical walls, and, preferably, a horizontal top side of the cover, are of a substantially transparent fabric such as a suitable mesh fabric or netting, of loosely woven or knitted construction of small but strong threads. This is in order not to interfere with visibility, even though the upper portion of the carrier may be located in the line of sight between a motor vehicle's rear view mirror and the rear windows of the vehicle. An additional reason for the use of such fabric is that the upper portion of the cover should be able to provide for free transfer of air to and from the interior of the space defined by the pet carrier of the present invention.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, intended for use within the rear portion of a vehicle such as a station wagon, a vertical front wall, vertical right and left side walls, a horizontal bottom, and a horizontal top are provided. A rear side is open, providing access to the interior of the carrier when the tailgate of the station wagon is opened. In such an embodiment of the invention, the bottom extends rearward farther than the top of the carrier, and the rear margins of the vertical right and left side wall portions of the cover are sloped rearwardly and downwardly, conforming generally to the slope of the interior of the station wagon so as to contain the animal effectively when the tailgate is closed.
Preferably, the interior frame structure of the pet carrier of the present invention is easily assembled and disassembled outside the cover, yet the cover holds the individual pieces together in mated relationship when the frame is located within the cover. Additionally, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, upper and lower transverse horizontal frame members are located within transverse tubular margin portions at the rear edges, respectively, of the top and bottom portions of the cover. This arrangement holds the cover in place surrounding the frame.
The pet carrier of the present invention is light in weight, and because of the waterproof construction of its bottom and the lower portions of the vertical walls, it protects the interior surfaces of the motor vehicle in which it is used. Not only is such a lightweight pet carrier easily handled for placement into or removal from the interior of a motor vehicle, but its waterproof construction makes it easy to keep the pet carrier clean simply by washing it with an ordinary garden hose and allowing it to dry. The relatively confined space within a pet carrier of this nature is apparently attractive to dogs, which enjoy curling up within the carrier. The carrier may thus be used not only within the vehicle, but in a house where a family to which a pet belongs is temporarily staying.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.